Why the rest of the world doesn’t want to visit Britain

Travelling in both directions between the EU and the UK is about to get more bureaucratic and more costly. Both the UK and EU are implementing new border regimes to tighten up on security but which will impact travellers.

For inbound non-visa nationals they will need to apply for an ETA before travel at a cost of £10 per person, including those merely connecting at a UK airport. This will be yet another cost and barrier to people choosing to come to the UK.

Toomer says that the new Government has an opportunity to reset: “We’re calling on the Government to work with the industry on a new Sustainable Tourism Growth Plan which is ambitious in its targets, and crucially backs up aspiration with good policy-making.

The Labour Government has also pledged to reset relations with the EU which we would like to go further into an EU-UK Mobility Agreement which does not reopen Brexit debates, but would make travel and trade between the two jurisdictions easier for leisure and business travellers alike.”

VisitBritain’s marketing budget stands at around £18 million annually, compared to over €80 million (£67 million) for Ireland, despite the fact that tourism – according to the Government’s own figures – delivers an impressive £21 of additional spend for every £1 invested. If just £1 was allocated from each ETA, VisitBritain could deliver substantial returns for the UK economy.

The biggest challenge for the Government might be to do with tone.

It’s all very well using recent history and the narrative of “broken Britain” to support new policies – but it might be best to whisper it so would-be foreign visitors don’t keep spinning the globe to find a more attractive holiday destination.

What the rest of the world thinks of Britain

Australia

Most Australians have a clichéd view of Britain, mostly shaped by news coverage of the Royal Family and sporting events such as Wimbledon and the Ashes. Coverage of UK politics is virtually non-existent. Australians are suffering from cost of living pressures and looking for travel bargains; with a weaker Aussie dollar the UK is seen as an expensive destination. Cheap long-haul flights have also largely disappeared. But many young Australians are now applying for working visas in the UK, which are now easier under post-Brexit rules. A couple of years in London is still seen as an important rite of passage after leaving university – and a handy base from which to explore Europe.

Mark Chipperfield

Greece

Coming from a fairly chaotic country, Greeks love the British sense of order (“They stand in line to catch the bus! They say ‘sorry’ when they bump into you!”). They also love Sherlock Holmes and shopping in Harrods – they even love the climate (!). Most Greeks would leap at the chance to visit the UK, and high prices (food and accommodation) are more likely to put them off more than knife crime (Greeks generally feel they have more reason to fear the behaviour of the British when they’re on holiday here in Greece, than when they’re in their home country).

Heidi Fuller-Love

USA

Tourists have historically been drawn to the UK for its castles and culture (think Harry Potter, not Made in Chelsea). But most Americans I know have been to the UK and are looking farther afield for travel. I think this drop is less about Britain losing favour (though I do hear regular complaints about pub food from those who do go) than other places rising in popularity: Americans I know are travelling to Japan, Iceland, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland… While I have noticed this anecdotally, data bears out the shift: year on year, American tourism in Japan was up 17.4 per cent in the first few months of 2024, and 35.5 per cent up on 2019.

Sara Sherwood

Germany

The Germans I know or have spoken to about visiting the UK don’t have any specific issues with it and speak rather fondly of their own experiences. There has, inevitably, been a slight dimming of enthusiasm since Brexit and the associated delays, visa issues and general anti-European sentiment, but we have had plenty of rail strikes, delays and cancellations here of late (Deutsche Bahn has been on a downhill slide for a while) and most don’t even know about London’s knife crime and Britain’s polluted waters. In summer, most Germans seem to be put off by the idea of rainy weather more than anything, especially as they can explore the rest of Europe, including the sun-filled south, more easily.

Paul Sullivan

France

I expected to open floodgates asking my all-French office what they thought of visiting the UK at the moment. Certainly, they miss no opportunity to tell me that our food and weather are rubbish. While neither of these factors make me reluctant to come back to the UK, the state of our public transport does; I can’t remember the last time I visited and my trains ran to time (ironic, as 10 years ago I’d have been saying this about France). The answer, though, was much more simple. “Passports,” says my colleague. “We can use our ID cards all over the European Union, but now we have to remember to renew our passports to come to the UK.”

Anna Richards